reviews

Romantic comedies don’t come any blander or more generic than this one. Four adult sisters come together for the wedding of one of them, and the predictably disparate paths they’ve taken cause mild friction, until it no longer does. Niki (Brooke Langton) is an actress, starring in a Baywatch–type boobfest; Chrissy (screenwriter and director Vanessa … more…

It’s not really appropriate for kids, this French fairy tale — the subtitles will try their patience — but grownups enchanted by Disney’s Beauty & the Beast (and The Princess Bride) will delight in it. Disney’s animated musical fantasy owes a lot, in fact, to this live-action one: director Jacques Demy gave a classic story … more…

Man, they weren’t kidding when they called it Sin City. This is a vile place, oozing corruption from every orifice, where integrity and honesty in the institutions of authority have long since fled. This is a place where a man or a woman wielding a gun or a knife (and they all do) makes no threats — he or she just proceeds instantly to inflicting the worst. This is a place where there is no time for threats: you hesitate, you die. This is no place you want to be.

This Barbershop spinoff is like a wan, third-generation photocopy, only with chicks, and despite the fact that it’s an enormous mess, the terrific cast is undeniably ingratiating. Hair stylist Gina Norris (Queen Latifah: Taxi) has moved from Chicago (the character appeared in Barbershop 2: Back in Business) to Atlanta, where — after escaping from a … more…

It’s off to Vegas for FBI agent Gracie Hart. Or is it back to Vegas? Was *Miss Congeniality 1: Even Grown Women Can Be Juvenile Idiots* set in Vegas too? I’ve tried to hard to forget that film, and now it all comes rushing back, like the kind of nightmare you wake from with a scream, in a sweat, and vowing never to sleep again. All that girly squealing and female bonding over evening gowns — ack, make it stop!

Eve Ensler’s powerful one-woman — emphasis on “woman” — off-Broadway show The Vagina Monologues so stirred women around the world with its themes of self-empowerment and self-determination that it spawned a worldwide movement against rape, “female circumcision,” and other female-directed violence. This, Abby Epstein’s impassioned documentary, tells the story of that movement, from the celebrity-studded … more…

More amusing when taken by moments than as a whole, this superhero spoof is a worthy companion piece to the similarly themed Mystery Men or the animated cult TV series The Tick, but it fails to reach their heights of satiric brilliance. The Specials are the sixth or seventh greatest superhero team in the world, … more…

Leave it to the French to create a Moebius strip of a movie about the difficulties of shooting an effective, believable sex scene that holds multiple mirrors up to itself, creating a neverending series of reflections and self-referents. Director Jeanne (La Femme Nikita‘s Anne Parillaud) is getting ready to shoot the most important scene in … more…

Call it Little House on the Serengeti. Delightful and deeply affecting, in that way that genuine, heartfelt stories about growing up can often be, this is a treat for fans of British TV — a beloved 1981 production is at last on DVD — and childhood memoirs. Based on the book by Elspeth Huxley, this … more…